I definitely would like to see some more complex leveling. I mean, maybe TH doesn't need an ascension mechanic. It'd be interesting to see some actual end-game content. The thing is, if you have ascension, that immediately just about eliminates any option of making the game more in depth, as people will complain about runs taking longer. Though it's more than likely that this will just be ascension-based. I don't know why I'm even talking...

Last edited by TheK3vin on Tue Dec 25, 2007 2:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Dybbuk wrote:So basically endgame is after a week or so? Is "KoL did it" really a justification? I didn't play KoL, maybe I'm one of the few players who never did.

It's not that I'm doing it "because KoL did it". It's that the ascension and replay mechanic make KoL the first game that I've wanted to play every day for nearly two years straight. That combination provides a continued ever-renewing set of challenges, plus a way to continually allow your character to grow and develop. It's something I find exceptionally satisfying, whether it's collecting skills, trying for speed, messing around with different familiars, trying different combinations of starting scenarios, playing through with differing constraints (and rewards), and other stuff.

It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't play KoL, but without ascension KoL would be a fun place to explore for a couple of months (maybe five or six, even, with all the content they've got), but ascension and the replayability are the things that really keep me coming back. It's what I see as their key mechanic, and it's what I've planned this game around from the beginning.

Also, I'm not sure "endgame is in a week" is going to be an accurate summary. For those who want to, they ought to be able to get through the minimum amount of gameplay within a week and start over, yeah. However, for those who want to more fully explore ideally there will be enough to do that it takes longer than a week. And if getting to the "end" of the game isn't your goal, there should always be other things to do (merit badges, complicated things to explore, extensive but optional quests, etc.). Having a replay mechanism doesn't mean the game is "over" in a week if you don't want to replay.